miners strike 1984-lessons to be learnt.

[Carnoustie]

In my opinion, the lesson to be learned is that trying to run a national dispute without first having a ballot creates division and is, ultimately, disastrous. If a ballot is not undertaken and won, you cannot hold the moral high ground and legitimately argue that any strike-breakers are undermining that principles of trade unionism, i.e. that we all stand together behind the wishes of the majority.

No ballot = no democratic decision = an excuse to go in to work on the grounds that 'how do you know the majority of people want to be on strike'.

[IWW Fellow Worker]

'The Enemy Within' by Seumas Milne is a very good book on the miners strike and the aftermath in which the press lied about Scargill's hadnling of union finances and were found out.

[borders]

IWW , reading that book at the moment !! just proves to what extent the Capitalist Elite will go to protect their position. they tried a similar thing with George Galloway after the Iraqi War. that proved to be a stitch up as well.

[Yahoorsur]

WE WON'T FORGET (Comrades for life)





We'll always remember the year of the strike


And the fifth day of March eighty-five


They can say that we lost; they can say what they like


But we had the time of our lives

And we've no regrets; we've no regrets

The flame continues to burn

And we won't forget; we won't forget

United we will return



We all fought together – women and men

To stop them closing down mines

If we had our time over we'd do it again

And be quite sure we're ready next time



The Congress House traitors had promised for years

Their support would be second to none

You could hear their hearts bleed; you got drowned in their tears

But precisely nothing was done



We marched in the streets till we blistered our feet

We withstood the full force of the law

'The miners united they'll never defeat'

We sang till our voices were raw



With their truncheons and horses they opened our eyes:

You hold on to what you can defend

Comrades in struggle are comrades for life

And stand solid and true to the end



The smug commentators can peddle their lies

We're proud that we formed picket lines

We'll build the resistance and we'll organise

And we'll have the bastards next time



And we've no regrets; we've no regrets

Though the flames of vengeance still burn

And we won't forget; we won't forget

United we will return.



Hat tip to http://www.unionfutures.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[borders]

miners strike 1984-lessons to be learnt.


1)DONT GO ON STRIKE IN THE SPRING WHEN THEY HAVE MASSIVE STOCKPILES OF COAL

2)A SECRET BALLOT WOULD HAVE HELD THE UNION TOGETHER( and yes I know there were difficulties in getting this through the executive)

3)Pick your fights,dont let the bosses pick them for you.

And I bow to no one in support of the miners in 84,father,friends all out for a year,theres lads in my office who still wont talk to that S**b from Low Valleyfield,but we lost and the former mining areas all over the UK are still living with the cost of that defeat.
I dont think we will ever see anything like it again in my lifetime.Well at least untill we have our peaceful revolution

in effect the action started in the Autumn of 1983 when there was an overtime ban .

[andy2007]

Lesson to be learnt from the 1984 miners strike ;
DON'T vote Conservative.

And the lesson from what's happening to us now: Don't vote Labour either!!!!!

[stokes11eg]

miners strike 1984-lessons to be learnt.


1)DONT GO ON STRIKE IN THE SPRING WHEN THEY HAVE MASSIVE STOCKPILES OF COAL

2)A SECRET BALLOT WOULD HAVE HELD THE UNION TOGETHER( and yes I know there were difficulties in getting this through the executive)

3)Pick your fights,dont let the bosses pick them for you.

And I bow to no one in support of the miners in 84,father,friends all out for a year,theres lads in my office who still wont talk to that S**b from Low Valleyfield,but we lost and the former mining areas all over the UK are still living with the cost of that defeat.
I dont think we will ever see anything like it again in my lifetime.Well at least untill we have our peaceful revolution

in effect the action started in the Autumn of 1983 when there was an overtime ban .

I do not think you 'lost' o'k' maybe the pits and jobs have gone, but you 'won' Pride and admiration for your brave stand--I think most people who lived through those days, and may have perhaps at the time may not have agreed with your actions, now see things in a different light,valient last stand boys ,well done ,and thankyou.

[Rowdy]

'The Enemy Within' by Seumas Milne is a very good book on the miners strike and the aftermath in which the press lied about Scargill's hadnling of union finances and were found out.

I was lucky enough to hear Seumas Milne give a talk and shortly afterwards read his book. It's frightening what democratically elected governments are capable of and how easy it is for them to abuse their power.

What we must remember from the miner,s strike is that the Labour Party leaders didn't support the miner's strike and they won't support us either if our current situation develops into industrial unrest. Of course they are they ones who are trying to destroy our postal service, our jobs and our working conditions that have been hard fought for over the years. So if we want to keep our postal service intact we must withdraw political funding of the Labour Party by the CWU and give that money to Party's/organisations who support us. Once that 30% stake has been sold there will be no going back, it will be full throttle from there on in. Also, anyone who supports keeping Royal Mail nationally owned shouldn't be voting Labour. There are other parties out there that support us, some of them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_po ... al_parties" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Take your pick.

[stokes11eg]

'The Enemy Within' by Seumas Milne is a very good book on the miners strike and the aftermath in which the press lied about Scargill's hadnling of union finances and were found out.

I was lucky enough to hear Seumas Milne give a talk and shortly afterwards read his book. It's frightening what democratically elected governments are capable of and how easy it is for them to abuse their power.

What we must remember from the miner,s strike is that the Labour Party leaders didn't support the miner's strike and they won't support us either if our current situation develops into industrial unrest. Of course they are they ones who are trying to destroy our postal service, our jobs and our working conditions that have been hard fought for over the years. So if we want to keep our postal service intact we must withdraw political funding of the Labour Party by the CWU and give that money to Party's/organisations who support us. Once that 30% stake has been sold there will be no going back, it will be full throttle from there on in. Also, anyone who supports keeping Royal Mail nationally owned shouldn't be voting Labour. There are other parties out there that support us, some of them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_po ... al_parties" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Take your pick.

would still like to seem any more independant candidates standing.Perhaps creating a more middle of the road approach, representing as many people (and their needs ) as possible , With the Cons and labour, there is still too much of a 'One party for the rich and one for the poor' type attitude.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

would still like to seem any more independant candidates standing.Perhaps creating a more middle of the road approach, representing as many people (and their needs ) as possible , With the Cons and labour, there is still too much of a 'One party for the rich and one for the poor' type attitude.

Only problem is that because In Britain, median pay of all workers is about £20,000 a year and Members of Parliament are paid about £60,000 a year, but enjoy additional staff and other expenses of over £100,000, they immediately on election become out of touch with the average voter and have no idea what daily challenges ordinary people face.

One argument for their pay is that they want to attract people with the right skills, what in effect they mean is they want and prefer "career" politicians as opposed to "conviction" politicians. If they were paid the average wage that their constituents did then we would have more dedicated and a fairer political system where the voters would feel that MPs were less out of touch. After all how can you understand your constituents opinions if you don't face the same challenges they do.

[IWW Fellow Worker]

What we must remember from the miner,s strike is that the Labour Party leaders didn't support the miner's strike and they won't support us either if our current situation develops into industrial unrest. Of course they are they ones who are trying to destroy our postal service, our jobs and our working conditions that have been hard fought for over the years. So if we want to keep our postal service intact we must withdraw political funding of the Labour Party by the CWU and give that money to Party's/organisations who support us. Once that 30% stake has been sold there will be no going back, it will be full throttle from there on in. Also, anyone who supports keeping Royal Mail nationally owned shouldn't be voting Labour. There are other parties out there that support us, some of them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_po ... al_parties" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Take your pick.

Well said Comrade. I think we know what stance Brown will after the remarks he made in 2007. It's a pity Billy Hayes and Dave Ward haven't decided to engage with reality and reach the same conclusion about Labour. Also worth remembering is the actions of some T&GWU members who ran scab coal up and down the motorways. Since they've merged with Amicus, they have quite a pool of strike breakers who are ever ready to cross our picket lines.

When did 'scab' become a swear word?

[borders]

'The Enemy Within' by Seumas Milne is a very good book on the miners strike and the aftermath in which the press lied about Scargill's hadnling of union finances and were found out.

I was lucky enough to hear Seumas Milne give a talk and shortly afterwards read his book. It's frightening what democratically elected governments are capable of and how easy it is for them to abuse their power.

What we must remember from the miner,s strike is that the Labour Party leaders didn't support the miner's strike and they won't support us either if our current situation develops into industrial unrest. Of course they are they ones who are trying to destroy our postal service, our jobs and our working conditions that have been hard fought for over the years. So if we want to keep our postal service intact we must withdraw political funding of the Labour Party by the CWU and give that money to Party's/organisations who support us. Once that 30% stake has been sold there will be no going back, it will be full throttle from there on in. Also, anyone who supports keeping Royal Mail nationally owned shouldn't be voting Labour. There are other parties out there that support us, some of them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_po ... al_parties" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Take your pick.

well said my friend, i am reading the book now. people like to think we live in a free Democracy , maybe this is the best we will ever get, but you only have to read and educate yourself to realise things are not all they seem , eg the Labour Party ,a party for the working class, my arse !!

[baldrick]

Good programme about the Miners Strike on BBC4 at the moment.

[borders]

just finished watching it , note how the police tried to sound sincere but couldnt quite pull it off.

[andy2007]

What we must remember from the miner,s strike is that the Labour Party leaders didn't support the miner's strike and they won't support us either if our current situation develops into industrial unrest. Of course they are they ones who are trying to destroy our postal service, our jobs and our working conditions that have been hard fought for over the years. So if we want to keep our postal service intact we must withdraw political funding of the Labour Party by the CWU and give that money to Party's/organisations who support us. Once that 30% stake has been sold there will be no going back, it will be full throttle from there on in. Also, anyone who supports keeping Royal Mail nationally owned shouldn't be voting Labour. There are other parties out there that support us, some of them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_po ... al_parties" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Take your pick.

Well said Comrade. I think we know what stance Brown will after the remarks he made in 2007. It's a pity Billy Hayes and Dave Ward haven't decided to engage with reality and reach the same conclusion about Labour. Also worth remembering is the actions of some T&GWU members who ran S**b coal up and down the motorways. Since they've merged with Amicus, they have quite a pool of s***s who are ever ready to cross our picket lines.

When did 'S**b' become a swear word?

It's not a swear word. But it's a terrible insult, to refer to someone by that term. Because it means someone who's betrayed their fellow Union Members, and Collegues (even non-Union Collegues don't neccessarily cross the lines).

That's why it's frowned upon, these days. And to be honest, I can understand why. Because I've known people give in to Management pressure, and crossed the Picket Lines. And then years later, grown a Backbone, and joined us on the lines. So it makes sense, once the dust settles, not to rub their nose in it. But start convincing them of the error of their ways, in a more reasonable fashion.

Then again. How you deal with them, is a personal choice. I'm just explaining my own views, and also the reason, that it isn't PC to refer to someone as a S**b.